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We looked last time at fall 2012 fashion colours from international arbiter Pantone. Some of the colours may be great in a dress, but hard to imagine on four walls. That may not mean we won't want them in our homes, though. It's all about saturation and proportion Saturation is a measure of how bright and intense a colour is. This year's deep red oranges are very saturated, as are the ultramarine greens and the intense blues. On the other hand, we've also seen shades that were just one step... Read Full Story

Dr. Douglas Hutchings tells us about his experience as an entrepreneur. Pin it Read Full Story

Pantone's Fall 2012 fashion colour report gives us more chocolate brown, yellowed green, mustard yellow, and spicy pink, colours we loved last year. It brings in the deep orange, true blue, grey, and lilac we've been hearing about in 2012 colour predictions in general. There's an ultramarine green and a rosy beige that could update an office or beach house beautifully. What's all this got to do with painting and decorating? What's the connection between fashion and home decor? Simple. Makers... Read Full Story

We got to go to the High Density Electronics Center at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville. Dr Douglas Hutchings took us in to see the place where he and his colleagues work on their innovative solar energy invention. Some parts of the lab look a lot like an ordinary office. They have chairs and worktables and computers. However, the parts behind yellow plastic are “clean rooms.” They have no dust in them, and people must wear special clean room suits to go in them. There’s a “Gowning... Read Full Story

FreshPlans had the opportunity to interview inventor Douglas Hutchings, who was recently on the cover of Inventor’s Digest.  Dr. Hutchings has been responsible for two inventions: a new kind of solar panel  which makes solar energy much more affordable, and a website that helps people find special deals in their neighborhood. Our conversation with Dr. Hutchings was a great starting point for classroom activities about inventors: The solar solution is a process of making larger crystals... Read Full Story

We don't always start our decorating plans from nothing. What if we have furnishings and accents already, and need to choose a colour scheme that will bring them together? One approach is to try out lots of possibilities. You can speed up the process with online tools. Our example householder is moving into a new flat. She has furniture upholstered in this cocoa brown: She has soft furnishings in this shade of blue: While this combination has been popular for several years, our householder... Read Full Story

Paint colour is one of the most difficult and most important decisions you'll make in decorating. Often, we try to make this decision from colour cards, holding a variety of hues up to one another and choosing a great combination. We may go with a palette designed by a paint company, another option that can introduce us to combinations we wouldn't have though of ourselves. As the room above shows, paint isn't the only source of colour in our rooms. This pretty room has neutral furnishings, so... Read Full Story

Madame C.J. Walker was a self-made businesswoman who created opportunities for herself and for other African American women at a time when both educational and career opportunities were limited. Walker was the first African-American woman to become a millionaire, and (according to the Guiness book of world records) the first woman to earn a million dollars through her own efforts. She was also a philanthropist and a tireless worker for several causes, including the end of lynching and equal... Read Full Story

The Soldier’s Tale by Igor Stravinsky tells in music, narration, and dance the Russian folktale of a soldier on leave who trades his violin — and his soul — for wealth in the form of a book that foretells changes in the stock market. The soldier agrees to go home with the Devil for a couple of days to teach him how to play the violin. At the Devil’s home, he tastes a life of luxury, and when he continues on to his village, he discovers that three years have passed, not three days. His fiancee... Read Full Story

Are there actually any new colours? No. Colours, strictly speaking, are places on the unbroken continuum of light that we see in a rainbow. There aren't any new ones. Scientists have found that people can distinguish at least a million different colours, though we can name only the ones we have names for. That is, we could have identified Tangerine Tango as "orange" or maybe "red orange," but until Pantone named it their Colour of the Year for 2012, most of us couldn't have distinguished this... Read Full Story